Safety device



Dec. 18 @923.

D. W. BUNKER SAFETY DEVICE Filed Decf 4, 192g Patented Dec. id, 1923.

UETED Th i h iiAliZEE? DABIUS W. BUNKER, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NE'MV NEW JERSEY.

JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF SAFETY DEVICE.

Application filed December 4, 1922. Serial No. 604,833.

T all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I, DARTUS V. BUNKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Quincy, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Im 15, for use with a. leather splitting machine.

A leather splitting machine commonly comprises a knife to which the pieces of leather are fed by a pair of feed rolls, and a. table upon which the pieces are placed one by one and over which they are pushed by the operator to present them to the feed rolls. The pieces of leather which are to be split vary greatly in length and in thickness; but, for the purpose of explaining the present invention, top lifts and soles will be considered as representing the e: treme limits. Top lifts are commonly not more than three inches in length and a quarter of an inch in thickness while soles are often several times that length and twice that thicknessw It should be understood that these figures are notintended to be accurate and are used merely to make clear a problem which is encountered when an attempt is made to prevent injury to the fingers of the operator and at the same time to interfere in no way with the operation of the machine.

WVhen top lifts are being operated upon, any guard which is used should be fairly close to the feed rolls so that the shortlifts may be presented to the bite of the rolls; it should also be as close as possible to the upper surface of the table so as to prevent the operator from sticking the tips of his fingers through the opening between the guard and the table through which the lifts are presented. hen soles are to be operated upon. the opening between the guard and the table should be increased; but this increased space will permit the operators fingers to pass through it with the consequent danger of being caught between the feed rolls; and if, instead of increasing the space between the guard and the table, the guard is merely moved farther away from the rolls, a thick sole cannot be presented to the machine. 1

In prior application Serial No. 275.846, filed in the name of myself and Charles M. Bradford a guard is disclosed which provides for the conditions stated above. This guard is capable of being adjusted into two positions, according to whether the pieces of stock are comparatively short and thin or comparatively long and thick. When in position for use with top lifts or similar short pieces, it is located near the rolls of the splitting mechanism and with its lower edge spaced above the table just enough to permit top lifts to be pushed beneath said edge. When in position for use with soles it is located at a distance from the rolls greater than the length of an operators fingers and its lower edge is spaced from the table suf h'ciently to permit soles to pass beneath said edge. In that machine the work table is made in one piece and is comparatively long. This is satisfactory when sole-s are being presented beneath the guard, which is then at a considerable distance from the rolls but necessitates objectionable reaching by the operator when top lifts are being presented and the guard is close to the rolls.

According to one feature of the present invention, a work table is provided having a main section of a length suitable for top lifts or other" short pieces of work and an extension section which is held in inoperative position when the guard is in its forward position close to the mechanism for operating upon the work but may be moved into operative position in which it forms an extension of the main table when the guard occupies its position more remote from the ooerating mechanism. There is thus provided a long table for long pieces of work and a short table for shorter pieces. Any preferable movement of the guard from one of its positions to the other moves the eX- tension section of the table from operative to inoperative position or vice versa accord ing to the direction in which the guard is moved.

Another feature of the invention relates to an improved mounting of the guard frame of the machine and has a depending whereby its movement from another is facilitated.

These and other features of the invention including certain details of construction and combinations of parts will be described as embodied in an illustrative machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a leather splitting machine in which the present invention is embodied,

Fig. 2 is .an elevation of the extension section of the table and the link upon which it is mounted, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective.

The leather splitting nachine chosen for illustration comprises a frame 8, upper and lower :teed rolls 5 and 7, a knife 9 andna table 11. The table is pivoted at 13 to the one position to arm 11]. through the lower end of which is threaded an adju "ing screw 14-, one end of the screw engaging the frame 3 so that by manipulating the screw the table may be adjusted angularly. This adjustment, however, is commonly a small one, the table remaining suostantially horizontal at all times. The rolls are driven continuously in a direction to feed the work to the knife, and the bearings of the upper roll are adjustable vertically toward. and from-the lower roll to determine the thickness to which the work shall besplit. The machine, as thus'far described, is old and well known and has been chosen first because it represents generally a type in which presentation of the work is accompanied by some danger and second because a particular danger is involved in the presentation of work to. leather splittingmachines due to the different thicknesses of work which are commonly operated upon. ,7

Bctore descriljiin z the iixprovement in detail a brief outline of its mode of operation will be given. A guard 21 in the form oi a plate of a. length equal to or a little greater than the length of the rolls and havinp' a cu ved lower edge it may be moved to and held in either the full line or the dotted line position. In the fullline position the opening between its lowerede'e 121 and the upper surface of the table 11 is of sutiicient height to permit a comparatively thick piece oi. work such as a sole to pass through it but is not of suliicient height feed rolls. hen the guard is used on asplitting machine, the height of this open- 111;); is about livc-eip'hths of an inch and the distance from the guard to the. rolls is. about SIX inches. In the dotted line position the opening between the lower edge of the euard. and the upper surface ol the table- 11 is of less height than in the full line position, be-

121 is so mounted that;

to permit the oper tor to push hisfingers throueh itfar enough to reach the ing sutlicient then to permit a comparatively thin piece of work such as a top lift to pass through it but insufficient to permit, even soles, thereis provided anextension section 311 which is pivoted aboutthe axis 39, and is so connected with the guard 21 that it is swung up into the full linehorizontal position when the guard is moved back to its full line position and is swung down into a vertical inoperative position when the guard ismoved forward into its dotted line position. There is thus provided in efiect short table for top lifts and a longer table for soles. I

Proceedinc new to a description of, the details of the mounting of the guard, the r ain section 11 of the table has fastened to its opposite sides twobars one of which is shownat 1.2 in which are formed guideways 15 which are counterparts of and registcr with eachv other. extend away from the rolls first in asubstant-ially horizontal direction and then in. an upward curve. Extending one into each otthese guideways and adapted totravel therein are two-alined pins,-one off which is shown at 17, the pins being driveninto or integral with lugs 19 formed at opposite ends of the guard 21. Extending from the lower part of the guard 21 are two lugs, one

of which is shown at 23, and pivotedio these lugs upon alined pins, one of WlllCl1- These guideways" in aflange 211 whichis integral withthe arm 111 of the ma-inssection 11. of the table. The main portion of this slot is substantially vertical, but at its upper end the slot curves nearly 180 degrees and terminates in a seat in which the pin 33 rests to hold the guard 21 iii the position shown in full lines. The rod 29 is connected with'the main section 11 of the table by a link 37 which is pivoted at its upper end at 39 to this section and at its lower end to the rod. 29 so that the rod may swine bodily about the pivot 39.

ll hen the guard 21 is in the position shown in full lines, the opening between the lower edge 121 of the guard and the table is sufficient to permit a thick piece of work, such as a sole, to pass through it but is at the same time insufiicient to permit the operator to push his fingers through it far enough to touch the feed rolls. When now it is desired to present to the rolls comparatively short, thin pieces of work such as top lifts, the link 31 is raised and its lower end pulled toward the operator to withdraw the pin 33 from its seatand permit it. to travel down in the vertical portion of the slot 35. The operator then pushes the links 27 toward the rolls- 5, 7 until the guard and connected parts occupy the positions shown in dotted lines. In this position the guard is quite close to the rolls and its lower edge much nearer to the table than it was in the full line position. the opening between the lower edge of the guard and the table being insufficient to permit the ends of the operators fingers to be pushed through it. There are thus two operative positions of the guard; one in which it is spaced considerably from the tab-le and at the same time is located at a distance from the rolls greater than the length of the operators fingers, and the other in which. it is spaced much less from the table and located much nearer the rolls. It should be noted, too, that when the guard is pulled back from the dotted line position to the full line position the lower edge of the guard, owing to the direction of extent of the registering guideways 15, remains close to the table for a considerable distance and is not raised until it is so far from the rolls that the operator cannot possibly reach the rolls with his fingers by pushing them between the lower edge of the guard and the table.

The extension section 311 of the table is integral with the link 37 and so carried by the link that when the link occupies its full line position the upper surface of the extension section is in the same plane with and forms an extension of the upper surface of the main section 11 of the table; and. when the link has swung to its dotted line position the extension section has swung down into a vertical position entirely out of the way of the operator. The construction and mounting of the guard and extension is, therefore, such that, when the guard is located away from the rolls and wit-h its lower edge considerably spaced from the table, the extension is in its operative. position and the table is a comparatively long one; and, when the guard is located near the rolls and with its lower edge closer to the table, the ex tension is swung down out of the way and the short main section 11 may be used without the extension.

Vith regard to the mounting of the guard it should. be noted that, since the members 27 and 31 are fast to the rod 31, they form in effect a single arm, and that this arm is connected to a stationary part of the machine by the link 37.

In order to ensure that an operator shall not be able to reach over the guard at any time and thereby risk catching his fingers between the feed rolls, a shield ii is hinged at its rear end to the upper portion of the guard 21 and extends through the upper portion of the machine above the rolls. This shield rests upon lugs formed on the frame of the machine and slides backi and forth with the guard.

, Although the invention has been described in connection with a particular machine, it should be understood that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular machine which has been shown and described.

laying thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work are presented by an operator, of a table having a section adjacent the mechanism and an adjustable section movable into and out of operative position in which it forms an extension of the main section, and a guard adapted to be moved into and held in two positions, one near the mechanism and another more remote from the mechanism.

2. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work are presented by an operator, of a table having a section adjacent the mechanism and an adjustable section movable into and out of operative position in which it forms an extension of the main section, and a guard adapted to be moved into and held in two positions, one near both the mechanism and the plane of the face of the table and another more remote from both the mechanism and the plane.

3. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work are presented, of a table comprising a main section suitable for use with short pieces of work and an adjustable extension sec-tion adapted when in open ative position to lengthen the main section when longer pieces of work are to be operated upon, a guard adjust-able into one position for use with short pieces of work and into another position for use with longer pieces of work, and connections between the extension section and the guard such thatthe extension and the guard may be adjusted simultaneously.

4. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work may be presented by an operator, of a table comprising a short main section and an extension section, a finger guard located in front of the mechanism and spaced from the table to permit the work to pass between the guard and the table, means whereby the space between the I I I guard and the table may be increased by adjusting the guard away from the mechanism, and mean whereby the extension is moved into operative position to lengthen the table when the guard is moved away from the'mechanism. V 1 5. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work may be presented by an operator, of a table comprising a main section and an adjustable extension section, a guard located between the operator and the mechanism and spaced above the table to permit the work to pass beneath it, said guard. being stationary while inuse but adjustable, into different positions spaced differently from the table, and means" for adjusting the extension section of the" table into and out of operative positioiiwhen the guard is adjusted. f

6. The combination with mechanism to which pieces of work maybe presented'by an operator, of a table comprising a main section and an extension section, a guard be tween which and the table th'e'pieces are presented,-said guard being stationary while in use but adjustable over the'table from an operative position adjacent to and in front of the mechanism into another position more remote from but still in front of the mechanism, means whereby the distance between-the guard andthe tab-leis increased as the guard is adjusted to the last-named position and means acting during the adjustment to "move the extension section of the table into operative position.

7; The combination with mechanism adapted to operate upon comparatively short, thin pieces of stock and upon longer, thicker pieces, of a table comprising a main section and an extension section, a guard located in front of the mechanism and spaced above the table to form an opening through which the operator presents the pieces to the mechanisnnsaid guard being adjustable overthe table toward and from the mechanism, means for controlling the adjustment constructed and arranged to main tain the opening of a size sufficient to preventt-he fingers of the operator from passing' through it in all positions of the guard WlllCiI are within finger Iength'of the mech anism, and a connection between the guard and the extension section of the table for moving the extension of operative position. 7

8; The combination with mechanism to which pieces ot'work are presented by an operator, of a table comprising a main section and an extension section, a guard, means .whereb-y the guard'may be adjusted into and held in two operativepositions one nearer toboth themechanisni and the table and the other farther from bo-th the 'meclifv anism and the table, and means for moving the extension into operative position when the guard is moved away from the mechanism and formoving it to inoperative guard is moved toward position whenthe the mechanism, p 7 I 9; A machine for treating pieces of work section into and out having, in combination,mechanism to which the work is presented by an operator, a table, a guard movable into two operat ve positions, guiding meanstor the guard exvtending away from the "mechanism, first in a direction substantially parallel to the table and then'upwardiy, an arm pivoted atone end to the guard, means for controlling the path of movement of the other end of the arm. and a link connecting the arm with a stationary part of the machine.

10. A machine tor'treating pieces of work having, in combination, mechanism towhich V the work is presented by an operator", a

table, a guard movable into two operative DARIUS W. BUNKER. 

